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Digital Agenda: Commission consults on telecoms markets Recommendation
The European Commission has launched a public consultation with a view
to updating the current list of relevant wholesale and retail telecoms markets
subject to the Commission's "Article 7" procedure under EU telecoms rules (see
MEMO/10/226).
These markets include retail access to the public telephone network and
wholesale broadband access.
Having a list of relevant markets helps National Regulatory Authorities
(NRAs) regulate their markets in a coordinated manner.
The review will take into account major market and technological
developments, such as internet-based applications and services, the convergence
between different types of networks and services and the development of very
fast internet networks and services.
Based on its results, the Commission will then revise the current
Recommendation on Relevant Markets which was last updated in 2007.
The Commission invites interested parties to respond to the
consultation by 8th January 2013.
Neelie Kroes, European Commission Vice President for the Digital Agenda
said:
"We need to be up-to-date with technological developments in the sector
so that regulation only focusses on persistent structural competition problems
and facilitating investment."
The purpose of the questionnaire is to identify major relevant trends
and to consult stakeholders on the revision of the current list of relevant
markets and their scope, as well as on markets to be possibly added to the list,
including markets regulated at national level and trans-national markets.
The consultation is the first step in a review process.
Based on its results and after consultation with the Body of the
European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) and the Communications
Committee (an advisory committee composed of Member State representatives), the
Commission will adopt a revised Recommendation.
Background
Under EU telecoms rules, the Commission adopts and regularly reviews
the Recommendation on relevant product and services markets within the regulated
electronic communications sector (see IP/07/1678).
The Recommendation identifies the markets which are in principle
susceptible to ex ante regulation.
National Regulatory Authorities have to regularly review national
markets and notify them to the Commission under the so-called "Article 7
procedure".This is a consultation and notification mechanism that requires
national telecoms regulators to inform the Commission and telecoms regulators in
other EU countries in advance about measures they plan to introduce to solve
market problems.
Since 2003, the Commission has reviewed more than 1300 such
notifications.
This is the second review of the Commission's Recommendation on
relevant markets.
e Commission's first Recommendation dates from 2003 and was revised in
2007 to include one retail and six wholesale markets:
access to the fixed telephone network, call origination on fixed
telephone networks, call termination on individual fixed telephone networks,
wholesale access to the local loop, wholesale broadband access, wholesale
terminating segments of leased lines and voice call termination on individual
mobile networks.